Grain-door latch



Feb. 9 1926. 1,572,590

D. R. CAMERON GRAIN DOOR LATCH Filed March 17, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet l D. R. CAMERON GRAIN DOOR LATCH 7 Filed March 17, 1924 Feb. 9, 1926.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 9, 1926.

DANIEL ROBERT CAMERON, OF VANCGUVERJBRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA.

GRAIN-DOOR LATCH.

Application filed. March 17, 1924. Serial liTo. 699,728.

To alZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL Ronnnr CAM- icnon, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of the city of Vancouver, in the Providence of British Columbia, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Door Latches, cl: which the following is a specification.

- My invention relates to improvements in latches for grain doors, and the object of my invention is to provide a latch for the doors 'of grain cars which is of extremely simple and cheap construction capable of being installed with great facility and maintained at a minimum cost, which is highly practical in use, and is so designed and arranged that it may be opened from the exterior of the car with great ease and convenience and without damage to an part of it, thus enabling a grain door to e used over and over again so that the cost of renewals or repairs is reduced to a minimum.

I attain this object by the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view in perspective of the inside of a car illustrating; the embodiment of my invention therewith.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of a car showing the door in outside elevation.

Fig". dis a transverse section on the line of F 2.

. 4 is a view looking on the inside of the latching device.

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view taken, through the line 5-5 of Fig. 6..

Fig. 6 is an outside view of the latching 'device. 7

Similar figures of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings 1 indicates the outside wall of a typical grain car, 2 the doorway, 3 and 4 the vertical standard posts on opposite sides of the doorway, 5 the bottom frame sill, 6 the inner lining of the car, and 7 the floor.

The door consists of two sections, preferably-of wood, a comparatively narrow lower section 8 which when in place rests on the bottom sill 5 and a main section 9 the lower edge of which when in place rests on the 'upper edgeiof the lower section while its 'upper edge extends to within a short distance from the top of the doorway 2, leavpletely across the doorway and therefore being wider than the same is prevented from outward dislodgment under grain pressure from the inside by its engagement with the groove 11 on one side and contact with the carwall on the opposite side.

The opposite side edge of the lowersection. 8 extents intoclose proximity to the side of the doorway so that being therefore shorter when in place than the width of the doorway it is capable of being s vung outwardly under grain pressure from the inside of the car when'the latching device associated' with it to prevent such outward swinging now to be described is withdrawn from in front of it.

The latching device, which is illustrated more particularly in 4, 5 and (3 and is indicated generally by the numeral 13, consists of a plate 14 of substantially the same depth as the door section 8 provided with a rack bar 15 and this plate freely mounted against the inner lining 6 at the side of the doorway opposite to that on which the grooi' ed post 12 is secured and'positioned so that when in' its inmost position, as hereinafter referred to, its outer edge does not pro ect beyond the edge of the doorway but when in its outmost position it extends in front of the door section 8, as shown in Fig. 3. Thisyplat'e 14 is enclosed by a cover 16 which is secured to the car lining over the plate by bolts 17 and 18 and is flanged inwardly around its edge as at19 to provide space for the plate 14 and its'rack bar 15 to operate in, being provided with stiffening pieces 20 and 21 on its inner face to prevent warpingwhen the bolts 17 and 18 are tightened up.

tions of the flange 19, indicated specifically The upper and lower porby the numerals 22 and 23, provide guide surfaces on which guide arms 24 and 25,

formed integrally on the rear or inner end of the plate 14, as shown in Fig. -'4, move during operation of the device while the .eH'dportiOn 26 of' the flange l9 acts as a stop co-operating with the outer end 27 of the rack bar 15, which is thicker than the plate 1%, to limit the outward movement of the plate.

28 indicates a toothed segment mesl'iing with the teeth 29 of the bar 15 which segment is secured to apartially rotatable shaft 30 extending through the side of the car and which shaft is provided on its outer end with an operating lever 31, and to act as a guide for the rack bar and maintain it in close mesh with the segmentQS a bolt 32 in provided which extends through the side of the car andthe cover 16, on which bolt the upper edge of the rack bar bears, as shown in Fig. at. g f

The plate 14- is provided on its inside face adjacent its outeiHedge with a. tongue 33 which is substantially the same length the width. of the plate and the cover. 16 is pressed out to form a hood. 34 which covers the tongue whentheplat-e and tongue are in the inmost position, the cover being slotted as at 35 to permit longitudinal movement of the tongue when the plate is operated, this slot beingnecessary as it is preferable to keep the flange 26 unbroken, to prevent the grain from entering between the cover and the plate. The hood is also made a good fit over the tongue so asto prevent the grain from entering between them.

A vertical post 36 is secured to the lining (5 a short distance in from the edge of the doorway, above thcl cking device, as shown in Fig. 1, to prevent lateral movement of themain section 9, and on. this post are preferably pivoted clips 37 which may be swung around to engagegthe back of'the section when in place. The lower corner of the main section, indicated by the letter A in Fig, 1, rests when assembled on the locking device cover 16, as shown, and on. its inner side at its lower edge there is secured a strip 38 whiohprojects below it and covers the joint between the .main-section. and the lower sectionS, as shownin Fig. 1. it rigidly secured staple 39. isprovided which.

projects through a slot in. the operating lever 31 when the plate 14; is in its outermostposition so that by meansof a suitable pin 40 passed through thestaple on the outside of the lever the latter ishelidagainst inadvertent displacement; r

The manner in which the-intention. oper ates andv its utility will be apparent, reference beinghad. particularly to Figs; 4;, 5, and 6 and to Fig. 1,.i11. Whichlatter view the latching device is shown assembled and secured to the car wall It. will be seen that if the lower section. 8 be. )laced in position withv one end resting. int 1e groove 11 of the post 12 and the platel projected from the cover operation of the lever 31. tl fis se tion stlien held sa ward n0veinen ,aiidih? l m eries- 9 when placed in position with one end engaging the groove 11 and its opposite end bearing on the inside wall of the car is also maintained agsi toutward movement so that with the sections in position the door firmly closed against discharge of grain from the inside of the car. To open the door all that necessary-is to operate the lever 31 to retract the plate 1%- from in front ofthe lower sectionb whereupon the grain pressure will swing it outwardly and the grain will flow through the opening under the main. section, permitting partial discharge, and enabling both the sections to be removed so that the entire grain load maybe discharged in the usual manner through the fully open doorway.

This result is obtained without breakage of the door or damage thereto so that the door sections are available for use with subsequent loads with a minimum of expense for renewals or repairs. I From the foregoing it will be seen that have devised a simple, practical, and, ellicicnt latch for a grain door which is cheap to manufacture and install, economical. to

maintain, and which is of great utility and convenience. I

lVhat- I claim as my invention is 1. A grain door latch, comprising a latch plate extending throughout the greater part of the depth of the door, and slid ably mounted on the inner side of the car: adjacent the doorway and susceptible of having its edge projected beyond the; edge of the doorway or retracted clear thereof, and means for operating the plate from the outer side of the car by means of a lever, the weight of which tendsv to hold the plate in the retracted position.

2. A grain door lat-ch, comprising a latch. plateiextending substantially the depth of the door and slidablyniounted on the inner side of the car and susceptible of having its edge projected beyond. that of the doorway or retracted withinthat edge, said plate having rack. teeth about the mid-depth of theplate,disposed in the line of movement,

latch plate in the retracted position clear of the doorway. 3. A grain. door latch, comprising a lat-ch plateof a depth substantially the same as that ofthe door, said plate slidably l inminted on. the inner side ofthe carand susceptible of having it-s edge projected beyond theedge of. the doorway or retracted. clear thereof, said. plate having racl: teeth about. its. niddepth. and. disposed. in

it.) I

the line of movement, a toothed segment the doorway, and a, cover secured to the meshing with the teeth of the rack, a shaft inner wall of the car and forming thererotatably mounted in the side of the car with :1 grain-tight enclosure for the latch 10 and projecting through the outer side, a plate and its mechanism.

5 lever secured on the outer end of said shaft Dated at Vancouver, B. 0., this 16th day the weight of which lever tends to hold the of January, 1924;. utch plate in the retracted position clear of DANIEL ROBERT CAMERON. 

